County has muted enthusiasm for Legacy Trail expansion

Published: Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 5:42 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, September 4, 2013 at 5:42 p.m.

When the Legacy Trail opened in April 2008, then-county commissioner Jon Thaxton ran its length among a delighted crowd “and did four speeches along the way.”
For more than a decade, Thaxton and other county commissioners — especially former commissioner David Mills — and numerous other outdoors enthusiasts pushed to get the linear park built on an unused railway from Palmer Ranch to Venice.
Now they are excited to hear the trail may be extended north to Payne Park in Sarasota. “It's one of those assets that define a community,” Thaxton said.
This time, though, enthusiasm among the current commissioners for what some call “Legacy Trail 2” is not at the same pitch.
When the Friends of the Legacy Trail recently requested a feasibility study about a northward extension that could cost an estimated $150,000, the commissioners unanimously agreed to pay $75,000 out of a trails fund that comes from sales taxes — but no more.
Trail advocates will have to raise donations to pay for any study expenses that exceed $75,000, the commissioners said.
“There is no question that any extension of the Legacy Trail will be a positive for Sarasota County,” County Commissioner Christine Robinson said this week. “But we have to keep an eye on our spending right now.”
Despite the economic recovery, the county spent $9 million in reserves last year and will have spent $18 in reserves during the current fiscal year that ends this month, Robinson said.
The county must avoid being the sole source of dollars for any new big-ticket project that could lead to deficit spending, Robinson said.
Although the cost has not been determined, acquiring right-of-way and building a northern extension of the trail will be in the millions.
“If we can leverage our tax dollars with the private sector, that would be a great way to get this expedited,” Robinson said.
An unexpected twistAdvocates of the extension are just glad that the commissioners authorized the study, the first step toward making that Sarasota connection a reality.
County engineer Jim Harriott said the study is for preliminary work such as title searches, environmental reviews, a conceptual layout and construction cost estimates.
In November 2003, the county agreed to partner with the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit organization working under the federal Rails to Trails Act, to acquire the current 12.8-mile corridor from CSX Transportation for $11.75 million.
So far, more than $30 million from various sources has been spent on the existing trail — including bridges over Dona Bay and Roberts Bay in Nokomis and an overpass at the U.S. 41 Bypass in Venice, where the trail connects with the Venetian Waterway Park.
Creation of the trail took an unexpected twist when numerous landowners along it joined in a lawsuit against the federal government.
They claimed that when CSX sold the land to the county and the tracks were removed, it nullified easements for the railway that dated back to 1914.
They sued the federal government for compensation for their property — citing the National Trails System Act of 1983, which allows railroads to abandon their unused routes for entities such as local governments to use as recreational trails.
A federal judge agreed that the landholders should be compensated for the taking of their properties and that the federal taxpayers should be responsible for damages.
Hugh Culverhouse Jr., the developer of Palmer Ranch, has been awarded $3.2 million. At least 48 other property owners are to share in a $6.5 million claim. Another dozen or more claims may still be pending.
For the northern extension, the proposed study calls for leaving the railroad tracks intact along those eight-mile easements — which date back to 1911. The county could lease a 40-foot-wide strip within the railroad's right of way, which is generally 100 feet wide, for the trail.
That could avoid grounds for another lawsuit against the federal government and the payment of millions in damages.
Excited but patientMike Gippert of Friends of the Legacy Trail told the county commissioners that the trail “has a lot of community impact and it's all good.”
Gippert insists the trail is not just for fitness but for socializing. Unlike traveling by car, he said, a trail in which walkers, bikers and others encounter each other provides “an opportunity to have human interchange.”
An estimated 120,000 people a year use the current trail.
That number will rise significantly with the extension, said Mike Lasche of the Sarasota-Manatee group Bicycle Pedestrian Advocates.
Compared with the existing trail, “this would run through a lot more neighborhoods,” Lasche said.
It would also serve as “a long, skinny park” for those neighborhoods, “a place to take your baby for a stroll,” Lasche said.
“I think commuters would use it particularly because of the link to downtown,” he noted.
Lasche said the northern extension will also greatly improve safety in the Sarasota area, where pedestrians and bicyclists dread using Tamiami Trail and other roads.
With more than 1,040 accidents involving bicyclists and pedestrians reported during the previous six years, Sarasota County ranks among Florida's most dangerous counties to travel by foot or on two wheels.
Cyndee Reynolds — co-owner of Real Bikes, a shop near the Legacy Trail in Venice — said bicycling enthusiasts will have no qualms about making the 40-mile round trip.
“Most people go about 10 to 15 miles per hour” on a bike, Reynolds said. “I think everybody who rides a bike will like to go the distance.”
Thaxton said supporters of the extension should not lose their enthusiasm but should remember it can take years to get such a project completed.
“I'm excited,” Thaxton said. “But I'm patient.”

When the Legacy Trail opened in April 2008, then-county commissioner Jon Thaxton ran its length among a delighted crowd “and did four speeches along the way.”
For more than a decade, Thaxton and other county commissioners — especially former commissioner David Mills — and numerous other outdoors enthusiasts pushed to get the linear park built on an unused railway from Palmer Ranch to Venice.
Now they are excited to hear the trail may be extended north to Payne Park in Sarasota. “It's one of those assets that define a community,” Thaxton said.
This time, though, enthusiasm among the current commissioners for what some call “Legacy Trail 2” is not at the same pitch.
When the Friends of the Legacy Trail recently requested a feasibility study about a northward extension that could cost an estimated $150,000, the commissioners unanimously agreed to pay $75,000 out of a trails fund that comes from sales taxes — but no more.
Trail advocates will have to raise donations to pay for any study expenses that exceed $75,000, the commissioners said.
“There is no question that any extension of the Legacy Trail will be a positive for Sarasota County,” County Commissioner Christine Robinson said this week. “But we have to keep an eye on our spending right now.”
Despite the economic recovery, the county spent $9 million in reserves last year and will have spent $18 in reserves during the current fiscal year that ends this month, Robinson said.
The county must avoid being the sole source of dollars for any new big-ticket project that could lead to deficit spending, Robinson said.
Although the cost has not been determined, acquiring right-of-way and building a northern extension of the trail will be in the millions.
“If we can leverage our tax dollars with the private sector, that would be a great way to get this expedited,” Robinson said.
<b>An unexpected twist</b><br />Advocates of the extension are just glad that the commissioners authorized the study, the first step toward making that Sarasota connection a reality.
County engineer Jim Harriott said the study is for preliminary work such as title searches, environmental reviews, a conceptual layout and construction cost estimates.
In November 2003, the county agreed to partner with the Trust for Public Land, a national nonprofit organization working under the federal Rails to Trails Act, to acquire the current 12.8-mile corridor from CSX Transportation for $11.75 million.
So far, more than $30 million from various sources has been spent on the existing trail — including bridges over Dona Bay and Roberts Bay in Nokomis and an overpass at the U.S. 41 Bypass in Venice, where the trail connects with the Venetian Waterway Park.
Creation of the trail took an unexpected twist when numerous landowners along it joined in a lawsuit against the federal government.
They claimed that when CSX sold the land to the county and the tracks were removed, it nullified easements for the railway that dated back to 1914.
They sued the federal government for compensation for their property — citing the National Trails System Act of 1983, which allows railroads to abandon their unused routes for entities such as local governments to use as recreational trails.
A federal judge agreed that the landholders should be compensated for the taking of their properties and that the federal taxpayers should be responsible for damages.
Hugh Culverhouse Jr., the developer of Palmer Ranch, has been awarded $3.2 million. At least 48 other property owners are to share in a $6.5 million claim. Another dozen or more claims may still be pending.
For the northern extension, the proposed study calls for leaving the railroad tracks intact along those eight-mile easements — which date back to 1911. The county could lease a 40-foot-wide strip within the railroad's right of way, which is generally 100 feet wide, for the trail.
That could avoid grounds for another lawsuit against the federal government and the payment of millions in damages.
<b>Excited but patient</b><br />Mike Gippert of Friends of the Legacy Trail told the county commissioners that the trail “has a lot of community impact and it's all good.”
Gippert insists the trail is not just for fitness but for socializing. Unlike traveling by car, he said, a trail in which walkers, bikers and others encounter each other provides “an opportunity to have human interchange.”
An estimated 120,000 people a year use the current trail.
That number will rise significantly with the extension, said Mike Lasche of the Sarasota-Manatee group Bicycle Pedestrian Advocates.
Compared with the existing trail, “this would run through a lot more neighborhoods,” Lasche said.
It would also serve as “a long, skinny park” for those neighborhoods, “a place to take your baby for a stroll,” Lasche said.
“I think commuters would use it particularly because of the link to downtown,” he noted.
Lasche said the northern extension will also greatly improve safety in the Sarasota area, where pedestrians and bicyclists dread using Tamiami Trail and other roads.
With more than 1,040 accidents involving bicyclists and pedestrians reported during the previous six years, Sarasota County ranks among Florida's most dangerous counties to travel by foot or on two wheels.
Cyndee Reynolds — co-owner of Real Bikes, a shop near the Legacy Trail in Venice — said bicycling enthusiasts will have no qualms about making the 40-mile round trip.
“Most people go about 10 to 15 miles per hour” on a bike, Reynolds said. “I think everybody who rides a bike will like to go the distance.”
Thaxton said supporters of the extension should not lose their enthusiasm but should remember it can take years to get such a project completed.
“I'm excited,” Thaxton said. “But I'm patient.”